Sumlin on QB’s Heisman hype: ‘It’s something you let play out’

COLLEGE STATION – Freshman quarterback Johnny Manziel has already set the Southeastern Conference single-game total yards record – twice – in leading surprising Texas A&M to a 5-1 record.

The No. 18 Aggies play host to No. 6 LSU starting 11 a.m. Saturday, and Manziel will continue earning mention among the top Heisman Trophy candidates should he lead the Aggies to an upset. Bringing us to first-year coach Kevin Sumlin’s approach regarding the growing Heisman hype surrounding his flashy freshman.

“I’ve been around it for the last 10 years with guys like that,” said Sumlin, who’s spent the past decade as an Oklahoma assistant and Houston head coach.

In 2003, Sooners quarterback Jason White won the Heisman, and five years later OU’s Sam Bradford followed suit. Sumlin was at UH by 2008, but tutored Bradford as a redshirt in 2006 and then as a freshman in ’07.

Then Sumlin saw his last quarterback with the Cougars, record setter Case Keenum, earn Heisman notice deep into last season – and many college football observers thought he should have won it – although he ultimately wasn’t among the five finalists.

“It’s just something you let play out,” Sumlin said of how he handles any Heisman hype surrounding his latest candidate. “It’s been my experience those things take care of themselves. And you guys (reporters) are the ones who get all of that done.

“I’m a big believer that your performance speaks for you. And (Manziel’s) got enough on his plate right now, in getting ready to play one of the better defenses in the country.”

A&M has only mounted one true Heisman campaign – for running back ’Lectric Leland McElroy in 1995 – and he briefly led the race two games into the season under then-coach R.C. Slocum. But McElory’s nagging injuries and a loss at Colorado in the season’s third game derailed that campaign.

A&M has one Heisman Trophy winner: John David Crow in 1957, and a large statue of the burly runner resides in front of football’s Bright Building south of Kyle Field.